On The Beat
Abstract
Come the general election, there is an unusual degree of tolerance and flexibility in matters of race, language and religion as politicians try to woo the people. Why can’t it be like this every day?
IT doesn’t look like it will happen in Malaysia for a long, long time.
For a start, those who have overstayed must know when to leave.
Most of the voters are finding it difficult to swallow the argument put up by these leaders that they still need time to carry out their work.
Surely, they can’t expect us to believe them after holding on to their posts for decades.
Then there are those who have had their chances. They had served in various capacities but had to quit in the most controversial situations. Now in their 60s, ... they dream of staging a comeback.
It’s amazing how some of them seem to assume that their respective states are their personal fiefdoms.
Also, there are those who still continue to play the race card, in this age and time. At their party conferences each year, they play to the gallery by projecting themselves as the communal heroes. But during the general election, they shamelessly become the true Malaysian leaders we dream of. They greet their voters in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil; and if they can speak all these languages fluently, they would do so.
But for the rest of the five years until the next general election, they would insist only on one language for us.
Never mind if we all know that they send their children to boarding schools in England or Australia. Some, it is said, have homes there, too.
Of course, they are upset if we do not send our children to national schools, questioning our loyalty to the country.
Suddenly, all these languages are used in posters, bunting and advertisements, and you wonder why Malaysia cannot be like this every day.
Why can’t we embrace such Malaysian features and why must multi-culturalism be acceptable only during election campaigns?
Such an unusual degree of tolerance and flexibility seems almost unbelievable.
Even PAS is prepared to stop talking about an Islamic state during the elections but throughout the next five years, we can be sure they will tell us how certain principles cannot be compromised on religious grounds.
Politicians are also busy visiting places of worship and meeting religious leaders, including those of other faiths.
Yet we know we will continue to grapple with various bureaucratic problems relating to faith issues because these same politicians will struggle to stand up for the rights of all citizens once the election season is over.
How we wish we could have elections more regularly instead of just once every four or five years.
It’s good to tell the politicians what we want once every four or five years and do our best to hold them to their promises – every single day.
IT doesn’t look like it will happen in Malaysia for a long, long time.
For a start, those who have overstayed must know when to leave.
Most of the voters are finding it difficult to swallow the argument put up by these leaders that they still need time to carry out their work.
Surely, they can’t expect us to believe them after holding on to their posts for decades.
Then there are those who have had their chances. They had served in various capacities but had to quit in the most controversial situations. Now in their 60s, ... they dream of staging a comeback.
It’s amazing how some of them seem to assume that their respective states are their personal fiefdoms.
Also, there are those who still continue to play the race card, in this age and time. At their party conferences each year, they play to the gallery by projecting themselves as the communal heroes. But during the general election, they shamelessly become the true Malaysian leaders we dream of. They greet their voters in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil; and if they can speak all these languages fluently, they would do so.
But for the rest of the five years until the next general election, they would insist only on one language for us.
Never mind if we all know that they send their children to boarding schools in England or Australia. Some, it is said, have homes there, too.
Of course, they are upset if we do not send our children to national schools, questioning our loyalty to the country.
Suddenly, all these languages are used in posters, bunting and advertisements, and you wonder why Malaysia cannot be like this every day.
Why can’t we embrace such Malaysian features and why must multi-culturalism be acceptable only during election campaigns?
Such an unusual degree of tolerance and flexibility seems almost unbelievable.
Even PAS is prepared to stop talking about an Islamic state during the elections but throughout the next five years, we can be sure they will tell us how certain principles cannot be compromised on religious grounds.
Politicians are also busy visiting places of worship and meeting religious leaders, including those of other faiths.
Yet we know we will continue to grapple with various bureaucratic problems relating to faith issues because these same politicians will struggle to stand up for the rights of all citizens once the election season is over.
How we wish we could have elections more regularly instead of just once every four or five years.
It’s good to tell the politicians what we want once every four or five years and do our best to hold them to their promises – every single day.
5 comments:
is this wong chun wai telling the story to himself, or the voters?
looks like he is in the "lost kingdom"....
d'....
WCW writes this because elections is near, writes as though he feels the pulse of the people. After the elections, he will
be like a parrot mouthing everything the BN govt says.
When you become a Dato or Datok or Datuk...you don't have to sell your soul.
Artchan,
You may be right; I believed so.
maverick,
which is right..1st para or 2nd para
Artchan,
Both para have the essence. Wong Chun Wai is a Datuk. Election is near; TheStar is MCA and BN's mouthpiece.
So, both para have the necessary essence reflected in WCW's writings.
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